Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Remain Inactive at Trade Deadline; Was This the Right Move?

Episode Date: November 1, 2023

Indianapolis Colts GM Chris Ballard elected to stand pat at the NFL Trade Deadline on Tuesday. Was this the right decision? We also dive into the Colts' defense and discuss whether the unit can bounce... back from an abysmal showing this past Sunday.Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOColts?sid=YouTube📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFLFollow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOnFN!Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!DoorDashGet 50% off up to $10 value when you spend $15 or more on your FIRST order, when you download the DoorDash app and enter code LOCKED23. Subject to change. Terms apply.Jase MedicalGet $20 off these lifesaving antibiotics with Jase Medical by using code LOCKEDON at checkout on jasemedical.com.PrizePicksGo to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnfl and use code lockedonnfl for a first deposit match up to $100!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelScore early this NFL season with FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook! Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your team wins! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The Indianapolis Colts made the right decision to stay inactive on trade deadline day. Let's get to it. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Colts podcast. Thank you for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by GameTime.
Starting point is 00:00:43 Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Hello, everyone. I am Zach Hicks, your guy's favorite co-host here on Locked on Colts podcast. Today, we're going to have a fun conversation talking all about the NFL trade deadline, how the Colts, sitting at three and five through eight weeks decided to sit out on trade deadline day, didn't make any deals in the day whatsoever. We're going to talk about that decision and why I think that was ultimately the right one for this franchise. And then we're going to get into some overall conversations about this Colts team.
Starting point is 00:01:18 Do we think the defense is absolutely broken for the rest of this season? It actually might be. And then our final segment, we're going to talk about the dichotomy of Shane Steichen's offense and talk about how it's a really productive offense, but there's just something missing. And I think we all kind of know what that one thing is. But kicking it off, you know, today was trade deadline day, the day I'm recording this, sorry.
Starting point is 00:01:38 So Halloween on Tuesday was trade deadline day for the Indianapolis Colts and the rest of the NFL. There were multiple deals made. It was actually a really active day for the first time in forever on NFL trade deadline day. Washington sent out both their star pass rushers. There was a cornerback that was moved, Russell Douglas from the Packers. Some wide receivers moved around. A pretty interesting day overall, but the Indianapolis Colts, much to the chagrin of many Colts fans, did not participate in the trade deadline action whatsoever. And, you know, obviously when you're on social media, you get to see the overarching theme
Starting point is 00:02:17 of a fan base. You get to see the people wanting certain things and you get to see the many different reactions that you get from a fan base. You got people that wanted the Colts to be big sellers and sell off half the team and really commit to the tank and get into a really high spot for a Marvin Harrison Jr. or something like that in draft. Then you had the people saying, oh, we need a corner. Go buy a corner.
Starting point is 00:02:38 We'll get us a corner right now. Our quarterback depth is just shot. Oh, why didn't you make this deal for this player? Why do you make this deal for that player? So you kind of have the crazy opinions all over the place about this Colts team. But I think when you take a step back and you really think about this, and this is not me trying to be a show for the team whatsoever. I don't think any deal really made sense for the Indianapolis Colts. Obviously we'll talk about one deal that I think a lot of people are thinking the Colts should have got in on. But just to kind of look again at this team overall, this is a young team, one of the youngest teams in all of football who have their young quarterback.
Starting point is 00:03:11 Unfortunately, that quarterback is knocked out for the rest of the season, but they have their young quarterback and it's all about building for the future. It's really not about this season for the Colts, especially with Anthony Richardson out for the year. So it didn't really make sense for them to be buyers with that in mind, unless you were getting, you know, a player on their rookie contract that had a couple of years left, which I don't believe any players with multiple years left on their rookie contract was traded today or on Tuesday. I think Chase Young was traded on his rookie deal, but Chase Young obviously has to get his big deal after the season, which we'll talk about in a second. So I don't really think there was the move to be made for the Colts when it came to
Starting point is 00:03:49 buying other teams players. Sure. I could have seen the, the scenario with like a Jerry Judy or a Jamison Williams type trade. If those guys were going for day three picks, but they didn't get moved, you know, they didn't get moved. Their teams wanted higher picks for them if they were going to move them. So it just, there wasn't a deal to be made there that made sense for a team that's not buying for 2023. If they were buying, they'd be buying for 2024. So there really wasn't that kind of deal there. And then in terms of selling, you know,
Starting point is 00:04:16 why didn't they sell on players like a Michael Pittman Jr. or Zach Moss, Kenny Moore, Grover Stewart, Julian Blackman? I think, honestly, there really wasn't a trade to be made there. I could see the Zach Moss, Kenny Moore, Grover Stewart, Julian Blackman. I think, honestly, there really wasn't a trade to be made there. I could see the Zach Moss one. I could totally understand trading away Zach Moss. You'll never get higher value for that player, especially, you know, right now he's second in the NFL in rushing yards. But considering that you're really not going to get much of anything for him because he's a running back who's multiple years in the league, who's going to be looking for a contract after the season. I don't think it really makes sense to try. I mean, if you're going to get pennies on the dollar, why make that trade? You know, like he's a productive
Starting point is 00:04:52 player for you right now. He's helping your offense find some kind of rhythm under Shane Steichen and Shane Steichen kind of find his groove. I don't really see the point trading him away. And the same goes for a guy like Julian Blackman. Like you're not going to get much value trading away at Julian Blackman for other players. You know, Michael Pittman Jr. I think we all can reasonably expect him to be back after the season, be resigned to a big long-term deal with the Colts. So obviously you're not going to trade him unless you're getting some kind of crazy offer. And then guys like Kenny Moore and Grover Stewart, maybe they don't come back this off season, but I do think ultimately
Starting point is 00:05:25 the Colts want both of those players back. So you're not going to just trade them for day three picks because that's all they would net you in a trade. You know, I don't think that they would really want you want to get rid of those guys for day three picks that they ultimately plan on bringing them back. So I just don't think there was a move in terms of being buyers or sellers for the Colts to make. Now, the one move obviously everyone's asking about is, oh, Chase Young got traded for a third round pick. How come the Colts didn't jump on that? Chase Young, one of the premier pass rushers in football,
Starting point is 00:05:52 he's top five in pressures, like top 10, I think, in pressure percentage and pass rush win rate, doing some really good things for Washington this year. How come the Colts let him go to the 49ers instead of jumping in on that and offering their third round pick well there's a reason why Chase Young got traded for such a low comp right I mean uh Sweat Montez Sweat went to the Bears for a much higher compensation because the Bears felt like there's just more dependability there obviously uh there's a knee issue with Chase
Starting point is 00:06:21 Young or with yeah with Chase Young there's a knee issue with Chase Young that teams are worried about that teams are worried about, that teams are a little concerned if that's going to hold up. I mean, you really only have half a year of big production from Chase Young right now. It's been great this season, but you want to see it hold up long-term before you give out some kind of big deal. And I think Chase Young wants that as well.
Starting point is 00:06:38 I think Chase Young wants to hit the market. He wants to see what he can get on the market. And if he doesn't get a big deal, he'll take a big one-year deal, or maybe a team that the team that traded for in the 49ers will franchise tag him and he'll get that. So what you're really looking at mostly there with Chase Young is a rental player, a rental player that wants to either hit the market or get franchised after he finishes this year pretty strong. And that's why his value is more of a third round pick instead of the second round pick that Montez Sweat got Washington on the trade deadline so when you're looking at that kind of context there yes the Colts could have signed a Chase Young if they traded for him after the season and it would have
Starting point is 00:07:15 made that rental turn into a longer deal but in a deal that's likely a rental and you have a team that's likely not making the playoffs this year, like a rental doesn't really make sense. Like, again, sure, you could have franchise-tagged him after the season, but I don't know. I just don't – I get it. I get people being upset about that. I would have made the deal, you know, in retrospect, looking at what they could have got him for,
Starting point is 00:07:42 but I just think it's a weird thing to want your team that is clearly in the middle of like a rebuild or a retool or whatever the heck this Colts team is going through that's not really going to compete this year why trade for a player who's more of a rental as of right now so that's why I see then didn't really make the Chase Young deal I don't think any team with a losing record was really calling on Chase Young because of that I think they know where Chase Young stands in terms of wanting a big deal in the offseason or hitting the market. And the Colts are just not that type of team. They're not in a position right now.
Starting point is 00:08:08 They're still building for the future. And sure, Chase Young could have been a part of that future, but it's unlikely that he would have, or you don't know if he would have been. So why give up a premium pick for that? Even if it's a third round pick, it's still a pretty valuable pick. That's where the Colts got Josh Downs in this past draft. He's one of the premier players for this roster going forward. So again, it's not flashy. It's not fun. It's not like Madden where we can just, you know, go acquire all these top players for our mid round picks at trade deadline, you know, on Madden like that. But I do think ultimately the Colts sitting out of this trade
Starting point is 00:08:39 deadline was correct for where their team is currently at. Again, not fun, not flashy, but I understand it. And I really understand what the Colts are doing here. And hopefully, you know, we can get to a good spot next year with it and be more confident in this team and maybe be buyers at next year's trade deadline. But we'll see. Obviously, that's a whole year away. We're going to focus more on the 2023 Colts going forward
Starting point is 00:09:03 and talk about this Colts defense. Are they officially broken? Well, yeah, they might be. They might be. We'll talk about that here coming up in segment two. And guys, our partners at eBay Motors have teamed up with Locked On Fantasy Football host Vinny Iyer to bring you some of the best fantasy picks each and every week all season long. Whether you're prepping for daily draft or scouting the waiver wire, every, we're going to provide you with players that are guaranteed to fit on your roster for next week.
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Starting point is 00:10:50 Colts defense or the Colts in general have allowed 35 plus points. This was the real only one though, that I would say that those points are legit. You know, again, you can say it's making excuses, but if you look back at the Cleveland Browns game, the Colts offense turned the ball over four times, plus had one of their kicks blocked and returned back into enemy territory there. So the Colts defense had a lot of short fields there. Obviously another touchdown the Browns scored was on a fumble return for a touchdown or fumble falling on in the end zone for a touchdown. And then you look at the Jaguars games again, a lot of short fields off of turnovers. So yes, those were 35 plus point games that they allowed,
Starting point is 00:11:25 but this past weekend was one where we can objectively say the Colts offense did not cause all of those points. You know, the Colts offense was not the main reason why the Colts defense gave up so many points. The Colts defense was the main reason, and it was a complete collapse at every single level. I mean, Taysom Hill was averaging like 12 yards a carry in this past game. Derek Carr, of all people, had 11 yards per attempt, 11 yards per attempt for Derek Carr.
Starting point is 00:11:50 Derek Carr was bottom five in the NFL in yards per attempt this year. I think he was like 5.5 coming into this game to have 11 yards per attempt, have three deep bombs to Raheed Shaheed, just atrocious, just atrocious. And I know we can all look at Tony Brown Jr. as the scapegoat or look at Tony Brown as the main reason for all this, but it really wasn't just Tony Brown. If you look at what happened in this Colts defense, I mean, I watched the film. Unfortunately, I watched the film. I burned my eye sockets out after that one because I could not watch the film anymore. And I was just miserable after watching it. I I mean the pass rush was just non-existent the run defense especially the defensive tackles were getting was just getting driven off the ball like eight yards a snap it was so so bad
Starting point is 00:12:34 uh the Colts linebackers were just getting ripped apart in pass coverage they weren't really doing too much on the run game either and then you see just the the youth in the secondary really showing up with safeties making wrong wrong reads and missed assignments. Seeing Tony Brown obviously getting getting burned up and down the field. Jalen Jones. I mean, I think he was overall fine, but again, just not really what you 100 percent need in a weaker secondary. So, yeah, it was just the all time low for this Colts defense this past week against a really bad New Orleans Saints offense. They made this New Orleans Saints offense. They made this New Orleans Saints offense look like it was Drew Brees running it, running the show again.
Starting point is 00:13:09 And I know I keep saying this all week, or I guess since the game on Sunday, I've been saying this, but it was the worst Colts defensive performance I've seen since covering the team in 2018. I know in 2019 against the Saints as well, it was just a putrid performance, but that was at least against Drew Brees. You know, that was Drew Brees and like peak Michael Thomas and some other good players. Like, I'm not saying the Saints offense has no talent, but come on. Like, it's Derek Carr. It's Derek Carr, 11 yards per attempt against Derek Carr. Do you know how awful your defense has to be playing for that to be possible? How come every time Taysom Hill's getting in the backfield, he's rushing the ball for
Starting point is 00:13:47 over 10 yards to carry? Like, we know what's coming. This is a glorified running back in the backfield, and he's running for a ton of yards. So it's like, come on, man. Like, come on. But I mean, if you look at this Colts defense in totality and looking at everything that's been happening to them this year, it's hard to really see the silver lining and see the bright spot. Like, yes, some of the silver lining and see the bright spot.
Starting point is 00:14:05 Like, yes, some of the advanced stats are pretty positive in their favor. You know, EPA per play and success rate. They're still more middle of the road. But they're 29th in yards allowed, 32nd in points allowed. Again, some of that comes down to the Colts offense. But those are not promising numbers here in year two of this defensive system. Now, they've dealt with some pretty big injuries and big blows to the defense. Isaiah Rogers Sr. got suspended before the season started.
Starting point is 00:14:29 Dallas Flowers went down with an injury. Juju Brents has been injured. Grover Stewart's been suspended. Shaquille Leonard's clearly not the same player that he once was. But it can't be this bad. No matter who is out there for you, it can't be this bad. It can't be as bad as No matter who is out there for you, it can't be this bad.
Starting point is 00:14:45 It can't be as bad as what it was this past Sunday. This past Sunday was so inexcusable that when I'm looking forward at this defense, like looking for the next couple games, I don't know how I can have any optimism in this defense. It was that atrocious on Sunday. Again, there's not one bit of positivity to bring out of that performance outside DeForest Buckner's strip sack. That was the one play. There was one good play from the Colts defense in this game, but everything from pass coverage to pass rush to run defense
Starting point is 00:15:16 was a complete breakdown all across the board. There was just nothing positive. And even coming out of halftime, you would have expected some kind of adjustment or some kind of personnel change. And it just didn't happen. They just didn't make any changes and they still kept getting gashed by the Saints offense. And it was just a beat down in every sense of the word. So yeah, when you're looking forward to games with this Colts defense right now, like I'm sure people could say like, oh, maybe this is just one horrible game, like one tragic nightmare that the Colts just didn't wake up from on Sunday. And they'll be able to bounce back against these really putrid offenses they're about to go against.
Starting point is 00:15:52 You know, they go against Carolina this next week. They got the Patriots after that. And I believe they're the Titans after the bye week. So it's like, okay, maybe they can bounce back against some offenses that just aren't very good. But the Saints offense wasn't good. The Saints offense was atrocious. They were not a good offense whatsoever.
Starting point is 00:16:08 Very inefficient offense, low success rate, very ineffective in almost every way. But this Colts defense looked like they were playing against, again, like Drew Brees, like during his near MVP seasons. It looked like they were going against Peyton Manning in his MVP seasons. Like it shouldn't, this Saints offense shouldn't have looked like they were going against Peyton Manning in his MVP seasons. Like, it shouldn't, this Saints offense shouldn't have looked like this prolific passing attack with this unstoppable rushing attack against any matter of the Colts defense. The Colts defense could have been rolling me out there.
Starting point is 00:16:34 Okay, that's a bit of a stretch. But, you know, like, come on. These are NFL players they're putting out there against a bad offense, and they're just getting steamrolled from start to finish. And it's like, again, there were injuries on the Colts defense sure but they still had their two starting safeties they still had their whole linebacker group healthy I mean I know Zyra Franklin left for a couple plays but they had their linebacker group healthy they had three of their four defensive linemen out there and the result was just a beat down a beat down of epic
Starting point is 00:17:02 proportion like I know I'm being dramatic about this, but I don't see any positivity going forward with this defense right now because of how bad this past game was. So I'm not going to go as far as saying it's completely broken and there's no repair coming for this defense, but it feels like the type of game where I just don't know how you bounce back from because it was that bad of a performance. Maybe they can, maybe they can, they got some good leaders on that defense. They got Buckner, they got Zyra Franklin,
Starting point is 00:17:28 you know, two very vocal, intense guys who have been playing well this year. So maybe they can bounce back from this going forward, but man, I, I really don't have much confidence as defense after what we just saw. Like I'm telling you guys,
Starting point is 00:17:40 if you have no Sandy left in you, go back and rewatch this game from the defensive perspective. It's as bad as it gets. It really is as bad as it gets. It might be the worst defensive performance of 2023 outside of that Broncos defense versus the Miami Dolphins. But even then, the Miami Dolphins are the best offense in football. So yeah, they dropped 70 on you, but they're at least a good offense.
Starting point is 00:18:00 This was against a horrible offense. I just, I don't know. I have no words for how bad it was. I know, I guess I have a lot of words, but I don't want to have this many words for how bad it was on the Colts defense. So you guys let us know in the comments, you know, what you think about this Colts defense going forward. Do you think they can bounce back from this type of performance? Or are you kind of like me where it's like, I just don't know how you do it. I don't know how you really get back up for
Starting point is 00:18:25 after that kind of performance like that. It's such a thorough beat down. I just don't know how you repair yourself in time for the rest of the year, but we'll see. We'll see still half a season to go. Maybe I'm being a bit of a doomer here on the podcast, but, oh man, I just need to vent a little bit about that defensive performance because there was just nothing positive whatsoever, but don't worry. We're going to be shifting some gears just slightly, talking about this Colts offense and how it's mostly in a really good place, but there's a little bit of a dichotomy going with Shane Steichen and the way he's calling the offense and the way that things are going there.
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Starting point is 00:21:03 throw at you, but we're going to talk about Shane Steichen's offense a little bit. So Shane Steichen's offense on paper has been just fantastic this season. They're 11th in passing yards, 9th in rushing yards, 5th in total yards, 5th in total points, 9th in explosive plays, and that's charted by Marcus Mosher over at Locked on Cowboys. He's doing some great work over there, so check him out. They're 17th in third down offense, which isn't great, but you know, it's much better than where they were last year. 11th and red zone offense. I think there's a lot of good going on in this offense, especially
Starting point is 00:21:33 with the backup quarterback, especially with Jonathan Taylor missing half the season, especially with all the whole offensive line shakeup. I mean, they haven't had their five starters since week two, I believe, or since the first half of that week two game against the Houston Texans. So I think when you look at everything, there's just so much good about this offense. There's a lot of good overall. They got the easy answers in the passing game. There's always some kind of option for whatever look that defense is throwing
Starting point is 00:21:57 at the Colts. You know, hey, they're coming out with this all-out blitz. Cool. We got a quick screen here to Michael Pittman Jr. We're going to get him going here in space. Oh, they're coming with empty personnel. They're going to do man coverage. Cool, we got Josh Downs as the weak side guy on the backside,
Starting point is 00:22:11 and we're going to just feed him there for a quick little gain. Oh, they're showing some kind of look that, again, can maybe exploit down the field. We're going to call some four verts. We're going to get the ball out of our hands down the field and attack those seams, and we're going to get the offense going. I think there's a lot of really, really good answers in the passing game. And the rush game is so diverse.
Starting point is 00:22:29 It's so explosive, especially with these two running backs right now. Jonathan Taylor is getting back to looking like Jonathan Taylor. Zach Moss is second in the NFL on rushing yards. You know, the advanced stats for this offense are a little bit middling. But overall, I do think that this is still a really promising year for Shane Steichen and the Colts offense. Again, middling advanced stats for Colts offense that has been breaking in a rookie quarterback and then dealing with a backup quarterback are pretty positive. Now, the part that I really want to get to where it comes to just the dichotomy of this offense and kind of the nuance aspect of it is sometimes Shane Steichen's too perfect. And I know some of you guys are listening
Starting point is 00:23:05 who maybe aren't as huge of fans of Shane Steichen as I am, or for other reasons, you're like, okay, come on, Zach, he can't be that perfect. He's a rookie head coach. He's obviously not a perfect play caller. He makes some dumb decisions. But I guess the way I want to take this conversation is sometimes he has too many correct answers
Starting point is 00:23:23 for what defenses are showing him. And he's not really playing to his personnel. He's just more playing to those correct answers. So a perfect example of this is the Jacksonville Jaguars come to town, or I guess the Colts go to Jacksonville, sorry, for that game a couple weeks ago. The Jaguars come in with a set determination. We are going to take away the run game. We're going to sit in base defense all game long. We're going to force Gardner Minshew to beat us with his arm. And
Starting point is 00:23:50 obviously Gardner Minshew can't do that. He's a backup quarterback in the NFL for a reason. But because of that, the Colts go heavy, heavy offensive passing game plan. You know, they're going to be throwing the ball a lot because when you see base defense, you react by throwing the ball more. You get the ball out quick, you attack those linebackers in space, and you let the offense move. That's the correct answer. The correct answer is to throw teams out of base defense. However, when Gardner Minshew's your quarterback, maybe that's not the correct answer. And this isn't me saying that, you know, like the process is good. The process is good. You don't ever want to tell someone, hey, you know, the results are bad, process is good, so therefore you're bad. It's, hey, the process is good. The process is good. You don't ever want to tell someone, hey, you know, the results are bad.
Starting point is 00:24:27 Process is good. So therefore you're bad. It's, hey, the process is good. So that means you're doing a good job, but the results aren't lining up. So maybe we've got to look at the process again for the certain skills that we have on offense. The same thing goes to that Cleveland Browns game last week where end of the first half, the Colts have a little over a minute left. They have all their timeouts, or I think they had two timeouts left. And they're backed up on like their own 10,
Starting point is 00:24:48 12-ish yard line. Now all of us at home, we know what Gardner Minshew is. So we're saying, hey, just run it out, go to halftime with the lead. It's fine. But Shane Steichen makes the correct call, which is, hey, we can throw and get some points here. We got to try to get the ball down the field and get some points. That's a correct call. That's the way you should approach calling in the NFL. But with your personnel being Gardner Minshew, it's not the correct call because we know what Gardner Minshew is not. And I guess in a way I'm trying to say like some of the turnovers are on Shane Steichen
Starting point is 00:25:21 because you got to tone down just a little bit with who you have at quarterback and maybe be a little bit more conservative at times, which is horrible to say. But I think when you're looking at all the mistakes that the Colts are making, it's in that conservative versus aggressive mindset. When you have an Anthony Richardson or you have more of an upside explosive creative quarterback, you can be more aggressive because that quarterback is going to cover up a lot of flaws and cover up any other personnel issues you have on your team. But when you have a quarterback like Gardner Minshew, the margin of error is so low because one miss mistake, one route slip, one lineman getting beat leads to just a horrible, horrible play, which is going to
Starting point is 00:25:59 be a sack fumble. It's going to be a turnover on downs. It's going to be an interception. And again, this isn't me trying to just bash Gardner Minshew here. I think Gardner Minshew is perfectly fine for what he is, and he's operating the offense better than most backup quarterbacks could, but your offense is going to be limited with him. So a way that you can kind of hide some of those mistakes is by adjusting to that personnel. Again, I'm not saying that this needs to be two yards in a cloud of dust when it comes to passing and throwing the ball or just running into a brick wall constantly but I do think there needs to be a
Starting point is 00:26:27 little more nuance in what Shane Steichen is doing in terms of okay hey we have Gardner Minchu back here I I know that my process is correct I know that hey a little almost two minutes left in the half a couple timeouts I need to go get points but I don't have the guy to do that especially against the number one defense in football. Even though I've been killing them all day with my game plan, I don't have the guy who can really do that in this situation. And I can make things worse by having him throw out of this situation. Again, same with the Jaguars game.
Starting point is 00:26:55 Base defense the whole game. Sometimes you've got to run the ball a little bit more, though, because Minshew's not the guy who's going to win with his arm. Same with the second half this past game against the Saints. Saints come out, a lot of base defense. They're trying to get you to throw the ball more with Gardner Minshew's not the guy who's going to win with his arm. Same with the second half this past game against the Saints. Saints come out, a lot of base defense. They're trying to get you to throw the ball more with Gardner Minshew. It's just not who Minshew is, you know? It's not who Minshew is.
Starting point is 00:27:13 So overall, what I'm trying to say with this Colts offense is the process is so correct in almost every situation. Yes, there are a certain amount of situations that aren't perfect, and I'm not trying to say he's absolutely perfect by any means, but the process is so correct in so many ways. But if you don't have the personnel to execute that process, maybe the process needs to change slightly just for this time being. When you have Anthony Richardson back and you have him all broken in, you have him playing good football next year, your process is going to look great because you're going to continue this process. But if you're trying to maximize success in 2023, maybe the process needs to change just slightly, just slightly, and maybe go a little bit more conservative with your quarterback at times, maybe go a little bit more on the run game at times and leaning into that despite what the
Starting point is 00:27:59 defense is doing and trying to get outside and trying to get some good things going and staying ahead of the sticks. I'm not saying he's doing anything wrong, really. Shane Steichen has been awesome for the Colts, one of the biggest bright spots in a team that's three and five. Again, their offense is around top 10 in almost every major bulk stat, and then in advanced stats, they're still middle of the road with a backup quarterback in there. I think there's a lot of good with this Colts offense. I just think if the Colts are going to find success going forward, especially with how poor their defense is playing, the game plan might have to change just slightly for Gardner Minshew
Starting point is 00:28:30 in terms of that process. But obviously, even if it doesn't change going forward the rest of this year, I think that process is so good and so sound going into next year that I can't complain too much. I'm just talking more for 2023 and the outlook going forward. But you guys let me know what you think in the comment section. If I made sense in that last in that last section here, I really wanted to spin it as a very positive thing. It's just again, when you have who you
Starting point is 00:28:54 have a quarterback, you can only be so good, unfortunately. So if you want to maximize winning with that guy at quarterback, you might have to tone down your correct process just a little bit, just a little bit. Just a little bit. Let me know in the comments if you think that makes any sense there. If you guys don't already, make sure you're following at LockedOnColts, at JakeArthurNFL,
Starting point is 00:29:11 and at ZachHicks2 all on Twitter. Also subscribe to us on YouTube wherever you list your podcasts. We love your guys' ratings and reviews. And we'll see you guys back here tomorrow for Crossover Thursday. See you guys then.

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